Marketing Communications

Blogging Best Practices

Want people to read those blog posts you labor over? Here are 8 tips to help that happen:

Determine your target market. Who do you want to reach? Before you write a single word, you want to know who you’re writing for. Who will be reading your blog post? That way, your content will be directed towards those readers you want to reach – potential clients.

Photo Credit: kaboompics.com

Frequency Nail down a schedule. Determine ahead of time whether you’ll blog 1x/week, 2x/week or 1x/month. Then stick to it.

Keep it interesting. Don’t limit your blogging to just one topic. Mix it up a little so your readers don’t get bored. Think of what’s relevant to your target market’s interests and see what you come up with.For example, an architect might blog about current projects, industry trends, creativity, landscaping, architectural awards, landmarks, etc. A business coach might talk about networking, new business books, tracking projects, pitching new clients, etc.

Add some visuals. Spice up your post with graphics, photos, charts, video, GIFS or other visuals that are relevant to the content you’re discussing. Visuals not only break up the copy — the right visuals enhance your content.

Reference good resources. Add external links to industry experts or top media outlets. While you’re at it, include internal links to relevant information on your own blog posts and website pages (Google likes internal links).

Length According to Yoast, longer posts outperform shorter posts (Google is partial to posts of 2000+ words if you’re aiming for good positioning). But since most small businesses don’t have the time or resources to write this length, you’ll be happy to know that posts of 600 – 900 words can also perform well. For getting comments from readers, shorter posts (under 400) do fine. These work well for companies announcing events like open houses, signing parties, seminars and forums.

SEO Include keywords and phrases that relate to your topic if you want more visibility from search. Make sure to do some SEO (search engine optimization) to see what words and phrases you might add to your post. It’s worth the extra time.

Share your posts. Make sure to share your posts on social media, in your newsletter, in client emailings and anywhere else you want visibility. While you’re at it, be sure to ask people to reshare your posts. It could lead to media visibility or the opportunity to write an article in an industry publication. And then you’ll have a bylined article to share with potential clients!

Change Your Life. Volunteer.

Love animals? Looking for somewhere to volunteer? Alive Rescue, a no-kill shelter and ISO Center in Lakeview, has saved over 800 animals since it opened in 2008. It's an amazing organization, saving lives and doing outreach in the community. I've been volunteering there for 3 years. It's one of my favorite activities.

Last year, Alive converted their facility (the Little Barn) into a Special Isolation Center for dogs exposed to canine flu. Animals are treated there for 21 days after which time they're available for fostering.....or adoption.

A year ago, I adopted one of the first 14 dogs that Alive rescued from Chicago Animal Care & Control. He was a neglected and matted mess. But he stole my heart the minute I saw him. Alive nursed him back to health (after canine flu, pneumonia and nearly dying) and now he's my best buddy.

Thank you, Alive Rescue!

If you're not into volunteering but want to donate to a worthy organization, please consider Alive Rescue. There are many more animals waiting to be saved.